Growth When You're 18 & Already The Best In The World?

Wed 02/19/14

When you’re 18 years old and you’re the best in the world how do you continue to grow?

Back in 2002 Kelly Clark became the first American female to win an Olympic Gold Medal in snowboarding. That same year she won The X Games and every other event she was part of. She hit every one of her professional goals, but just 2 years after, she felt hopeless.

In the film, One Year, Kelly said: “I was writing (in my journal) about if I didn’t wake up tomorrow, I was fine with that,…. I didn’t think anybody would care if I didn’t wake up tomorrow. I was writing if this was what life was, then I was done with life.”

One day at a competition, Kelly overheard a rider consoling a crying contestant who had fallen and been knocked out of the heats. She overheard her say “It’s all right, God still loves you….” and something clicked Kelly’s heart. She realized, “Maybe God loves me?” So later that night Kelly found that other snowboarder in the hotel and asked her about God's love & grace.

Kelly had never been to church. She didn’t know a lot about Christianity or Jesus, but after the conversation she spent some time reading The Bible. One of her coaches even gave her a copy of The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. She felt challenged to ask God about all the tough questions she’d been struggling with, and He gave her a new understanding of love & personal identity.

Today, Kelly is very vocal about how God has filled her with a unique love that she can’t contain. She says: “Basically when I came to the end of myself, God met me. She even has it written on the top of her snowboard. “Jesus I cannot hide my love”